The development of biological sensors, or biosensors, is a rapidly growing field and Beckman Institute researchers are in the forefront of these developments. Scientists in areas as diverse as chemistry, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering are working to create biosensors that have medical, research, and industrial applications. These researchers employ technologies as cutting edge as stretchable electronics and as simple as dipstick tests, using materials as exotic as silk and as 21st Century as gold nanoparticles. They are creating biosensors that could one day be used to monitor the heart of a patient with arrhythmia, detect toxins such as lead in the home or laboratory, or be used in futuristic brain-machine interfaces. There are several research lines at Beckman developing intriguing new biosensing technologies, often using completely different approaches. One researcher, John Rogers, is applying his groundbreaking work with flexible and stretchable electronics to the world of biomedicine while another, Yi Lu, is harnessing the power of DNA biomolecules for detection of toxins.